novus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *nowos, from Proto-Indo-European *néwos. Cognates include Old English nīewe (English new), Ancient Greek νέος (néos), Proto-Slavic *novъ, and Sanskrit नव (náva).

Proto-Italic *nowos fails to become Latin *nuus due to specific conditions in the development of Latin, namely -o-(w)- being in the first syllable, whereas *dē nowōd (“anew”) became dēnuō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈno.u̯us/, [ˈnou̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈno.vus/, [ˈnɔːvus]

Adjective

novus (feminine nova, neuter novum, comparative novior, superlative novissimus, adverb novē or noviter); first/second-declension adjective

1. new, novel

   Synonym: recēns

   Antonyms: prīscus, prīstinus, antīquus, vetus, senex

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Ecclesiastes.1.10:

     nihil sub sole novum

     there is nothing new under the sun

2. fresh, young
3. recent
4. unusual, strange, extraordinary
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.10-11:

     “Quis novus hic nostrīs successit sēdibus hospes?
     Quem sēsē ōre ferēns, quam fortī pectore et armīs!”

     “What [is it about] this unusual guest who has entered our home? How he bears [his noble] face, how brave in heart and in battle!”
     (Dido finds the appearance and character of Aeneas attractive; to her, he is not just another new or unknown visitor to Carthage.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	novus	nova	novum		novī	novae	nova
Genitive	novī	novae	novī		novōrum	novārum	novōrum
Dative	novō		novō		novīs
Accusative	novum	novam	novum		novōs	novās	nova
Ablative	novō	novā	novō		novīs
Vocative	nove	nova	novum		novī	novae	nova

Derived terms

• dēnuō
• novē
• novellus
• novitās
• novō
• renovō
• sub Novīs
• Novum Testāmentum
• novus homō
• nova nupta
• novae rēs
• nūntius
• Novus Ordo

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: nou, nãu, não
  • Romanian: nou
• Dalmatian:
  • nuf
• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: novu
  • Italian: nuovo, novo (Tuscan or archaic)
  • Neapolitan: nuovo
  • Sicilian: novu
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: nou, novu, nobu
• North Italian:
  • Friulian: gnûf
  • Istriot: nuo
  • Ladin: nuef
  • Ligurian: nêuvo
  • Lombard: neuv
  • Romagnol: nôv, növ (Ville Unite)
  • Romansch: nov, nouv (Puter, Vallader)
  • Venetan: novo
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: nou
  • Franco-Provençal: nôf
  • Old French: nuef (see there for further descendants)
  • Occitan: nòu
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: nuevo
  • Old Leonese: [Term?]
    • Asturian: nuevu, ñuevu
    • Extremaduran: nuevu
    • Leonese: nuevu
    • Mirandese: nuobo
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: novo
    • Fala: novu
    • Galician: novo
    • Portuguese: novo (see there for further descendants)
  • Old Spanish: nuevo, nuebo
    • Ladino: muevo, מואיבﬞו
    • Spanish: nuevo
• → Esperanto: nova

References

• “novus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “novus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• novus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to enter on a new method: novam rationem ingredi
    
  • a parvenu (a man no member of whose family has held curule office): homo novus
    
  • a demagogue, agitator: plebis dux, vulgi turbator, civis turbulentus, civis rerum novarum cupidus
    
  • revolutionists: homines seditiosi, turbulenti or novarum rerum cupidi
    
  • to hold revolutionary opinions: novarum rerum cupidum esse
    
  • (ambiguous) to introduce a new word into the Latin language: inducere novum verbum in latinam linguam
    
  • (ambiguous) to hold revolutionary opinions: novis rebus studere